FRISCO, Texas – Sam Houston State senior Anthony Azar has been named the Southland Conference Baseball Student-Athlete of the Year, the league office announced Tuesday in conjunction with the release of the All-Academic Baseball Teams.

Bearkat pitcher Tyler Eppler was also named to the All-Academic second team.

Azar, a native of The Woodlands, Texas (The Woodlands H.S.), is a geology major with a 3.45 grade-point average. He is the third Sam Houston baseball student-athlete to earn this distinction, joining Jake Arrington (2012) and Luke Prihoda (2007). Azar is a Dean’s List student and was tabbed Sam Houston’s men’s “Student-Athlete of the Year” for the 2013-14 academic season. He is making his second appearance on the all-academic team.

Since 2007, 16 Bearkats have been named their sports Student-Athlete of the Year a total of 19 times.

Azar led the league in total bases (127) and ranked second in the Southland in hits (86), RBI (49) and slugging percentage (.543) and third in batting average (.368), home runs (nine) and on-base percentage (.450), on his way to being named the league’s top player.

Azar, a three-time all-conference selection, was a semifinalist for the Johnny Bench Award, an honor that is given to the top Division I catcher. Azar hit .397 in league play to help the Bearkats win their final 12 regular-season conference games en route to claiming their third consecutive conference title and NCAA playoff berth.

Six student-athletes make a return appearance to the all-academic teams, including Lamar seniors Jude Vidrine and Chase Angelle making their third appearance while Azar, McNeese State junior Andrew Guillotte and senior Connor Lloyd and Sam Houston junior Tyler Eppler are making their second all-academic team.